[Jack Houpe]

I've read the threads and post from Tom and Richard on this subject and this is a have to fix before next trip. I had a tremendous amount of play in my steering wheel so bad I had to pull over every 100 miles or so to put bio freeze on my neck and lay down for a few minutes to calm my nerves. Yesterday evening I removed the column and found its not the first time its been out one of the 4 column mounting bolts was snapped off in the column and I could reach down and move the shaft by hand so the bearings are shot, I  put it in the vise you could see the was slop coming from the top and bottom. I called a place in NY and 2-3 weeks out and not one on the shelf to swap out, so I ordered a 28" keyed tilt generic GM column that I will have to tig weld some nuts on to for mounting and either change out the U joint to a DD type fitting or tig weld the spline onto the end of it.  it. I called Morgan at Newell and he said he didn't think they had any rebuilds in stock and still waiting on his reply. 

One question for the gurus on this, how did you remove that intermediate shaft from the steering box? Do you have to remove the gauges? Seems to long to pull straight up, I'd like to check that rubber dampener.

[Richard]

So……..

It is highly unlikely you have the rubber damper, aka rag joint, because it came into being after our coaches were built.

On the bottom of the steering column, loosen the bolt and remove it. There is a cutout in the steering shaft that the bolt goes through as a safety precaution. Now for the fun part, the very same setup is on the steering gear box. The bolt HAS to be removed for the coupling to release the shaft on the steering gear box. The intermediate shaft will come out the bottom, or the top, your choice.

Go back and read my post about installing the heavy duty bearing in the bottom of the GM column. It’s a heck of a lot quicker and cheaper than a new column.

Don’t go crazy with the steering sector adjustment screw on the TRW steering gear box. It is easy to think that taking the slop out of the box will help. I can assure you that having that screw too tight results in an EVIL handling beast.

I am OCD about how the coach handles. Here is MY list, not necessarily anyone’s opinion but mine, on all the stuff I did in order of highest impact.

Great Improvement
Replace bearing in bottom of steering gear column.
Tightened loose coupling on u joint to steering gear column.
Replace Panhard bar on rear axle

Modest improvement
Fine tuned toe in based on driving feel (I settled on 1/32 of rolling toe)
Rear axle torque arm bushings
New tie rod ends
New pitman arm ends
Custom fit heavy duty bearing in upper tilt section of GM column

Well I thought this would help but it really didn’t if I’m honest.
Rebuilt steering gearbox.
Tightened center tie rod links with internal adjustment
Road King shocks

And this hurt more than it helped
About 10 alignment jobs including Josam’s in Orlando.

I hope this helps you with your handling quest.

[Jack Houpe]

I'll go with first suggestion, what is panhard bar on rear axle? I don't recall seeing that, I'm somewhat dyslexic.

[Jack Houpe]

I crawled under the coach and found the panhard bar, it has been replaced not to long ago from the looks of the rubber on both ends, its soft and pliable, the surface rust is not that old.

[encantotom]

when i had my 99, it was terrible to drive with the play being pretty extreme when driving. drove me crazy

the fix was much simpler on mine. the new real bearing on the bottom replacing the bicycle like bearing that was there, new u joint on the column shaft and making sure all the bolts were tight. richard gifted me the bearing and the new u joint was like 30 bucks or something.

made it tight and smooth. be careful not to overthink this.

tom

[MrE]

This helped when I rebuilt mine. http://www.crankshaftcoalition.com/wiki/...ebuild.pdf

[Jack Houpe]

That file is wonderful, thank you! The lower bearing on my column is shot, the upper two bearings seem to loose, I would like to replace the nylon ball while I'm at it. I ordered a reproduction keyed, floor shift GM steering column $379 on Amazon, I hope to do one of two things, either use it for parts or replace the whole thing. My time is running out for getting things done, this was one of three major problems and the first two are done the salon seal and rebuild and the heat and air system. I've got 17 days for our planed departure and hope to meet that time plan.

[Jack Houpe]

Steering column came in yesterday and out today, what a piece of crap the only thing that was gm was the turn signal switch. Back to square one, I will get a bearing at Grainger on Monday don't think they are open today.

[BusNit]

Curious how many miles are on your coach? I have 133k on mine. Steering column is in excellent shape. The only issue I had was up and down flex when holding the wheel. Turned out to be a poor lower column support. I made a bracket to keep it from flexing. Tight as a rock now. Sounds like yours is an internal issue.

[Jack Houpe]

I reassembled the steering column and put the new 3/4 ID by 2 in od in the plastic housing and reinserted it, it was a little uneasy trying to press the bearing into the sleeve but it is what it is. I reinstalled it and will not know how things work out till my trip to Florida in about 7 days. Our coach was advertised with 65,000 miles on it but according to newell 
records and the hour meter on the engine it should have about 122,000 miles so it's a guessing game. That's a excellent idea!